Sony A450 vs Sony W550

Here is a extended review of the Sony A450 and Sony W550, one being a Entry-Level DSLR and the latter is a Ultracompact and both of them are created by Sony. The resolution of the A450 (14MP) and the W550 (14MP) is pretty close but the A450 (APS-C) and W550 (1/2.3") possess totally different sensor dimensions.

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The A450 was released 18 months earlier than the W550 which makes the cameras a generation apart from one another. Each of these cameras come with different body type with the Sony A450 being a Compact SLR camera and the Sony W550 being a Ultracompact camera.

Before delving through a more detailed comparison, below is a quick overview of how the A450 scores vs the W550 in regards to portability, imaging, features and an overall rating.

Following is a preview of the gallery images for Sony Alpha DSLR-A450 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W550. The complete galleries are viewable at Sony A450 Gallery and Sony W550 Gallery.

For those who are looking to carry your camera frequently, you have to factor its weight and measurements. The Sony A450 enjoys outside measurements of 137mm x 104mm x 81mm (5.4" x 4.1" x 3.2") accompanied by a weight of 560 grams (1.23 lbs) and the Sony W550 has proportions of 94mm x 56mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7") and a weight of 110 grams (0.24 lbs).

Take a look at the Sony A450 and Sony W550 in the new Camera and Lens Size Comparison Tool.

Do not forget, the weight of an Interchangeable Lens Camera will change depending on the lens you are using at that time. The following is the front view overall size comparison of the A450 and the W550.

Using dimensions and weight, the portability grade of the A450 and W550 is 65 and 96 respectively.

Quite often, it is difficult to visualise the gap in sensor sizing simply by researching specs. The graphic below may give you a much better sense of the sensor measurements in the A450 and W550.

As you can plainly see, each of the cameras posses the exact same megapixels albeit not the same sensor sizing. The A450 uses the bigger sensor which will make getting shallow depth of field less difficult. The older A450 will be disadvantaged in sensor innovation.